A Week of Thanks

It's Thanksgiving Week!  I think that calls for a theme week, no?  Let's go with the obvious: things I'm thankful for.  And in the spirit of the shopping insanity about to ensue I'll feature commercials that will hopefully give you some gift ideas.  (So this is a kinda sorta helpful blog.  I did this last year too.  See this post).

Now, obviously I'm thankful for the usual suspects- family, health, food... that all goes without saying.  But I'm also thankful for the luxury that is The Learning Channel.  Last night there was a Sister Wives special on.  It was especially disgusting.  TLC provides every kind of wedding show you could ever want (I used to plan my college courses around The Wedding Story.  Classic.)  The Baby Story of course, is the sweetest torture for those dying for a baby.  I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant is a different kind of torture for teen girls who think there's no way they could get knocked up.  They'll think twice the next time they have the flu or gain a couple pounds.  And of course, the I'm Pregnant and.... shows.  Last night I watched I'm Pregnant and It Could Kill Me (she had cervical cancer and waited until baby came along to start treatment). 
Not to even mention The Duggars, the Little Couple, Little People Big World, and their numerous and enrapturing specials on never-heard-of-before-diseases.

I love this stuff.  Sure, there may be something deeply, severely wrong with me but I just love it.  This Monday I am thankful for The Learning (about bizarre pregnancies and gross polygamists) Channel.

If you know somebody without a GPS you would be doing them a great disservice to NOT buy them one.  I would be homebound without mine.  Plus, they have great commercials as you may remember from previous posts.  No doubt they'll show up on Ad Bits again.

Meet Me Monday

I'm trying a new blog hop today just for the fun of it!  Stop by Inspiring You 2 Save if you want to link up!

End of Week Nutshell

Here are some of the highlights and lowlights of the last couple days:

Finished A's leg warmers! :)
Not happy with finished leg warmers. :(
Finally figured out Hello Kitty scarf pattern that once flew across my living room! (see this post)
Took kids to the heaven on earth that is Jumping Jax (an indoor bouncy house gallery)!  Forgot camera and was mad.
Exhausted from jumping, girlies (and me!) slept in today!
Discovered camera was in purse the whole jumpin' time.  Kicked self.
Finally went shopping so I wouldn't have to serve bowls of mayonnaise for dinner tonight.
Shopping bag broke and spaghetti sauce splattered all over garage floor, my shoes, and leg.  Left mess there for Jim to clean up.
Opened my new sundried tomato and basil Wheat Thins only to find they were already open.  Was mad.
Made apple cinnamon turnovers with Molly.  Yum.  Was happy.  Am still happy.

And that's where things stand with  me right now friends.  This afternoon the girls and I are hitting the stores armed with a Christmas shopping list for easy to buy for family members and pets.  Of course I'll also be armed with pretzels, granola bars and other bribes to keep my munchkins quiet happy.  Fingers crossed Molly won't be too disappointed when we don't find the giant scooter that she's convinced will make the best Christmas present ever for her daddy.

This is my favorite commercial out there right now- hope it fires you up for your shopping as well!

WWW Wednesday

Whine:  Aughhhhh!  As mothers we are supposed to be the world's best multi-taskers, right?  Normally I feel like I can multitask with the best of them- I can scrub toilets and chit-chat on the phone (one of my riskier maneuvers), I can drive with  my knees while signing the words to Molly's Bible songs and making faces at A to keep  her awake (again, risky, I know); right now I'm eating pretzels, drinking Diet Coke, blogging, and pretending to be a brontosaurus.  So you would THINK I'd be able to watch DWTS without screwing up my knitting!  The worst part is I was at the very end of leg warmer #1 and I didn't realize my screw up until I was completely finished.  It's not terribly noticeable, but I know it's there and will know it's there every time A wears them. :(  Boo.

Wish:  I wish I could get my hiney out of bed earlier.  Every single day I set my alarm for an hour before the girlies get up.  10% of the time I actually get up.  The other 90% I hit dismiss, snuggle down deeper into my warm, cozy, most comfy bed in the world and zonk out until a munchkin cries for me.  My bible study homework this week touched on the fruits of the spirit and the last one in particular.  You guessed it.  Self-control.  Oops.  But really, if God wanted me up earlier he wouldn't have brought such a fabulously comfortable bed into my life, right?

Woo-hoo!  Let's just list a slew of woo-hoos shall we?  With exclamation points at the end of each one?  Kyle Massey is in the DWTS finals!  Jim got not one, but 2 beautiful bucks!  I accomplished MORE Christmas shopping yesterday!  I cleaned out my closet to make room for new clothes I get at Christmas  make some donations to Goodwill!  It rained a beautiful, silent rain today and my dog didn't make a peep!  I learned to send a text to multiple recipients on my new phone (there are so many instances in which I want to tell both my brother and my sister what dweebs they are)!  Woo freakin' hoo Friends! 

What are your dubs this week? 

I love this guy- he looks like his life is one giant woo-hoo!

Quickstep On By

In the last few weeks I've fallen hook, line, and swinger for Dancing With The Stars.  I think I've made a huge mistake the last 11 years in NOT watching this glorious dance-off!  Too bad for you guys, of course because now you have to hear about it every week.  But I find it's really satisfying the hole The Biggest Loser left in my reality show viewing lineup.  Does it leave me hungry for salsa?  Yes.  But it's still worth it.

SO, I am happy with all in the final four, but I think I'm cheering for Kyle Massey.  Which reminds me of an embarrassing thing that happened to me yesterday.  I was chatting with a mom at Molly's soccer practice and the conversation turned to DWTS.  She didn't know who Kyle Massey was.  When a physical description didn't help her, I was forced to rattle off his resume. 

Me: He's a Disney star.  He was on That's So Raven, then had his own show on Disney for a while called Cory in the House that didn't do so great.  It was about him living in the White House because his dad was a chef for the President.  Now he's the voice of Milo on the new animated series, Fish Hooks.
Soccer Mom (in a pleasant, but horrified kind of tone): Ok.  I won't tell anyone you just said that.
Me (dying inside): Thanks.

Now I know and you guys may know I frequent channels 290, 291, and 292 (Disney East Coast, West Coast, and Disney XD), but I imagine it can come as quite a shock to hear a fully grown woman spew out tween trivia the way I can.  Luckily it wasn't Selena Gomez or Hilary Duff on DWTS or else I'd still be spewing all over this "interested in age-appropriate things" soccer mom. 

Embarrassing, right?  Judge me if you must, but not before I hit you with some puns.  First let me just say what fox(trots) those pro dancers are, right?  Mambo mia!  The judges are fun, although sometimes they seem to have chips (and salsa) on their shoulders.  I was sad to see Florence Henderson go, but she seemed to have hit a wall(tz).  Tonight I plan to swing by my living room couch to tune in.  Maybe I'll enjoy a nice rumba and Coke too.  Ahhh... it's good to be ajive.  I'll stop now.  It's time for me to (tan)go anyway.  Cha cha for now!

Color Me Crazy

Reason #bajillion33 why I love Molly: she thinks I'm a straight-up culinary genius for feeding her such exquisite meals as scrambled eggs and applesauce.  "Mommy, you make great meals every night!" she exclaimed (the previous night I had picked up a rotisserie chicken).  God knew what he was doing giving me a girl who has a less than sophisticated palate.  I believe tonight our four star meal will consist of waffles and apples.  What's up now Julia Child?

Reason #bajillion33 why I love Adrienne: she has a temper!  I know this won't always be cute, but when she chucks her bottle clear across the room when I try to wipe her nose I can't help but crack up! (how infuriating for her, right?)  Or when she's mad about taking a nap and shoves my face away when I move in for a kiss?  I actually sort of love it.  She's so laid back and sweet normally, if it weren't for these little tantrums I'd worry people would walk all over her.  But nope- anyone who tries any funny business with this munchkin will suffer the wrath!  Love it!

Of course, now that A is getting older, my girls have morphed from indifferent roommates to partner in crime playmates.  This is what I want, it is.  Sort of.  In related news, tomorrow I'm off to buy a Magic Eraser to work on getting crayon off the door, pen off the stairwell, and eyeliner off the wall (it's surprising difficult to remove!)  If you guys have any tips for kiddie art removal please clue me in!  I've tried the obvious: soap and water, Goo Gone, miscellaneous chemicals...  I've heard good things about Magic Eraser though- you?



Edit: I actually wrote the above yesterday.  Today I bought a Meijer brand "Erasing Sponge" (Magic Erasers were out of stock- good sign!) and I've been scrubbing ever since.  We have a glorious invention on our hands!  I'm completely in love and am going to write Mr. Clean encouraging them to bring to market a Magic Toothbrush so I can get hard water stains out of my grout.  Am I on to something or what?!

Imma Champ!

I'm champion of the world today!!  Or, champion of Visaville at least.  I put a good size dent in my Christmas shopping today, but was methodical and smart about all my purchases!  I even managed to get myself a couple items without spending a cent.  Thanks to some gift cards from last Christmas.  Champion!

In other exciting news, Jim and I are going out tonight for dinner and drinks with a couple friends, almost like we're real people with real social lives!  Wild!

Is P-Diddy still hip and cool?  Or tiiiiiight as the kids say (or used to say?)  In any event, here is a commercial featuring the rad Mr. Combs.  Cirock and roll baby!


Objection!  The explosive fist pound IS smooth!  It IS!